The Wagandea Tree
by thespectralbones
Summary: The Magic We Share series: Part III A spell goes wrong and magic is no longer shared but lost altogether-on one end. Alongside Croix and Chariot, Akko and Diana turn to the Wagandea Tree to return balance to where it belongs. But, along the way, they realize magic isn't the only thing that's fallen out of sync.


Chapter 1

**The Summer Festival**

* * *

"Hey, you."

The fog within the glass orb set delicately in the center of Akko's desk slowly dissipated and the misted face of Diana gradually began to take shape. The blonde witch was ready for bed, her long, curly blonde hair falling wet and dripping onto the white t-shirt that Akko sent her home with over the summer. It had been her favorite sleep shirt, the one she'd been wearing on the first night they'd—well, you know—and Akko hoped it would be a warm reminder of her love during the time they were apart.

Trope, really, but Akko honestly couldn't help herself when it came to cheesy romance and Diana clearly couldn't, either, because she'd given Akko her old Arsenal sweatpants (the ones she _swore _she never wore, though she seemed reluctant to give up all the same). Being summer, there wasn't much reason to wear sweatpants, so Akko made sure the air in her room was kept at a hair-raising chill just so she'd have a reason to wear them.

Akko was still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She yawned, rolling her shoulders against the rough, square back of her wooden desk chair and offering a lopsided smile at the fuzzy image of her girlfriend. "Hi," she replied.

"Or, I suppose I should say good morning," Diana replied. She was messing with something on her own desk, leaning halfway out of the orb before straightening up and smiling back. "You really didn't have to wake up so early to Orb with me, Akko. I know the hour there is dreadful."

It was. It was five in the morning, and Akko usually had absolutely no reason to be up in at five in the morning. Darkness still clouded her windows, stray strands of moonlight filtering in through the slim opening in her curtains. The sun wouldn't rise for another hour or so, and neither would Okaasan or Otousan, because they had no reason to be up, either.

But, for once, Akko _did _have a reason. Diana.

"It's okay," Akko said. Usually, they would Orb at a more reasonable hour, when Akko had just finished dinner and Diana had surrendered her Head of House duties for the afternoon in favor of tea and a much needed break. But this occasion was specifically planned. Akko would be spending the weekend at her aunt's in downtown Tokyo, where the summer festival—something she had attended yearly ever since she was a kid—would be kicking off the next evening. That meant no Orb time, only texting, which was difficult enough as it is. Akko had helped Diana pick out a phone in Glastonbury just before the end of their final exams and had taught her, with much difficulty, how to use modern, regular technology. And it wasn't that texting was _bad, _it was just… well, texting Diana was a lot like texting her ancient Ojiisan.

Diana smiled once more. That slow, timid smile that made Akko's stomach flutter but also quite clearly said: _you're being dishonest, but it's out of kindness and that's okay. _She coughed once, gently, placing her pale fingers over lips that Akko desperately wished to kiss before asking, "How did you sleep? No nightmares, I trust?"

"Mm." Akko shook her head, cricking the corner of her lip in a grin. "Nope. Madam Wong hooked me up. New potion is working like a charm."

"Charms are quite different from Alchemy," Diana deadpanned. "You might want to be able to differentiate the two going into our final year."

"It's a _saying, _Diana," Akko moaned, ready to facepalm until she saw that Diana was doing that adorable smirk that she always did when she had told a joke and was pleased with it. She chuckled, planting her elbow onto her desk and dropping her chin into her palm as she admired the other girl. Even through the mist of the Orb Diana was beautiful, elegant in the pre-sleep look that she thought of as "revealing". But, more importantly, Diana was _hers._

Well, not hers in the property sort of way, but definitely hers in the gets-to-kiss-and-hug-and-more-and-nobody-else-can kind of way, and Akko was more than okay with that arrangement.

"And the rest of your day?" Akko continued, speaking automatically through the loopy haze that came over her as she stared at Diana. "Were you able to meet with that… important guy?"

"The equine proprietor," Diana clarified. She nodded, smile fading with the recollection of the business venture that had been her day. Restoring the Cavendish name—and wealth—had been a chore that she'd been unable to escape. Summer break was a pipedream, merely for the fact that a Cavendish did not get a break. She'd been working diligently to bring the manor and familial relationships back to their former glory and, though met with many a barrier, had been successful in most of her endeavors. That day had been one of them. The Cavendish family no longer needed a majority of the horses, as Aunt Daryl showed little interest in the breeding and sale that her mother formerly had, and so the day had been dedicated to just that. Which happened to require a lot of paperwork, a lot of small talk, and a lot of entertaining a posh man that had no idea how to be a normal human being. "Yes, Anna and I arranged the sale of our Thoroughbred mares. They're due to leave the following Tuesday."

Akko chuckled, shifting in her chair. The sleep was slowly ebbing away. She'd been planning on crawling back under the covers after Orb time, but now she wasn't so certain she'd be doing that. "So Daryl got off her high horse?"

"Nice pun." Diana smiled and shook her head, struggling to hide just how much she appreciated the joke. "Yes, I was able to convince her that the sales were necessary. Though, I did have to concede with one mare that she said she had particular affection with. Not that I've ever even _seen _her near the stables." She rolled her bright blue eyes. "I did _not, _however, allow myself to be swayed by my lovely cousins."

Akko nodded. Her eyes narrowed in thought as she glanced away, down at her hands, nervously biting down on her bottom lip before asking, "I know it's not my place to ask, but did you happen to—"

But Diana interrupted before Akko could even finish voicing her fears. "Thistle will be remaining at the Cavendish manor."

A loud sigh of relief. "How'd you know?" Akko asked, trying to hide the grin that flashed across her face before she could stop it. It had been her single fear since Diana had mentioned selling the mares—a group of horses that included Thistle, who played an important role in one of Akko's favorite memories—though she had quashed the vocalization of her thoughts because she knew that Diana was already having trouble with Aunt Daryl and her cousins. She didn't need Akko fighting that, either.

"I just did," Diana said plainly. "Thistle is…" She paused, turning her eyes away, though the fuzz of the Orb did little to hide the blush that painted her cheeks. She cleared her throat. "Thistle is an important member of the family for many reasons."

Akko narrowed her eyes, smirking. "So keeping Thistle had nothing to do with her being with us when I told you I loved you for the first time?"

She wished she could see the color of Diana's cheeks in real life, untainted by the cloudy vision of the Orb, but even so she could feel the heat of embarrassment sparking between them. She reached forward, unconsciously but intentionally, and lightly brushed her thumb against the soft glass. Emerald sparked from her fingers, sending a tingle down through her arm.

"I—well, of course—you know—that may have played a role in my decision and—"

"Diana." Akko laughed, catching herself and muffling it so she wouldn't wake her parents. "I'm just playing with you. You don't need to explain your reason for keeping Thistle."

Diana grew quiet, a period that wasn't uncomfortable at all because Akko knew that she was just regaining her posture—sometimes she took a moment—before continuing. "I just thought that when you visit next you may like to ride her," she finally said, eyes meeting Akko's even through the distance, through the time, through everything keeping them apart when they longed to be together. "I know you don't really know how, but I could teach you. The countryside is beautiful and we could do a picnic—"

"Diana."

"—or perhaps just explore—"

"Diana," Akko repeated, though she didn't necessarily need to because Diana grew quiet and attentive. "Thanks for keeping Thistle. It means a lot that you kept a big smelly animal just because of me."

Diana rolled her eyes. "What a gracious way to say thank you."

Akko bowed her head, bringing her arm out to the side even though she knew Diana couldn't see it. "I thank you, my fair lady, for maintaining ownership of the powerful mare that I so long to wrap my legs around and ride hard into the sunset just like her owner."

"_Akko!_" Diana buried her face in her hands and groaned. "I knew I shouldn't have left my door open. Anna probably heard all of that. For Nine's sake, you're impossible."

"It's not like Anna hasn't literally walked in on worse."

"_Akko!_"

"Okay, okay," Akko mumbled, stifling her laughter between her fingers. "Sorry, Miss Cavendish."

A quiet stretched between them, one where Diana returned an embarrassed smile before her eyes darted to her lap. Akko absentmindedly fidgeted with a coin on her desk, unsure of where to go next, unsure of what to say until Diana closed that distance for her and said:

"I really love you, Akko."

"I love you, too."

The reply was automatic. It had become secondhand nature, a quick reflex at hearing those three words leave her girlfriend's lips. But it was not without sentiment, nor was it in the manner of habit that had come to be forgotten. No, they were heavy, still balanced beneath the weight that sank through her core and brought her blood to a heated boil with each exchange. She loved the way Diana's eyes softened when she spoke those words, the way the corners of her lips cricked ever so slightly when Akko spoke them back.

But the moment passed, as it always did, as it always would.

"I apologize, but I need to get going," Diana said after a moment, her gaze shifting to something that Akko couldn't see. "I really need to finish the paperwork for these mares. I'm supposed to have them faxed over tomorrow and I still have to figure out what a fax exactly _is_." She sighed. "I suppose I'm due a call to Paul Hanbridge, anyway."

Akko knew what a fax machine was, obviously. But she most certainly didn't know how to use one, and so she didn't bother arguing that she could explain the function. So, instead, she smiled sadly and said, "Alright."

Another pause. Akko didn't want to get off the Orb, and she knew that Diana was regretful in leaving.

"I wish you could come to Tokyo with me," Akko murmured. She rolled the coin in her fingers, feeling the metal warm beneath her touch. "You'd love the summer festival. Everything is so pretty and the whole square is lit up with colorful lanterns and there's so much to do and—"

"I know," Diana interrupted slowly, carefully, because it wasn't something she was apt to do. But it hurt to hear Akko talk about how badly she missed her, it hurt to know that she was stuck in her musty, lonely manor, enslaved to the duties of a future Cavendish matriarch. "I'd be there if I could, Akko. I would have loved to visit you, you know that. It's just… there's so much here that I have to do. Next year, perhaps?"

Akko nodded. She let the coin drop from her hand, watched it sway and clatter against her wooden desk. "Next year," she agreed, even though she was doubtful that next year would be a possibility. "Next year for sure."

There was a sadness in Akko's eyes, one that Diana didn't like to see in the least, but there wasn't much she could do. They'd be together again soon. The start of the new school year awaited them not too far in the future and Diana would be lying if she said she wasn't ready to get back to her studies, to her friends, to the monotony of schoolwork and classes and, of course, to Akko.

"I'll text message you this week," Diana said. "Just don't send me any of those moving pictures. It takes a while for them to appear on my phone and I haven't formulated a spell to receive them more quickly."

"No gifs," Akko stated, nodding solemnly. "Noted."

"And please try to use proper grammar and spelling. Those abbreviations you use are difficult to read and it would be much easier to understand."

"Type like an old literary nerd." Akko nodded again, letting the lecture of proper texting roll over her head. It wasn't the first time Diana set the rules for messaging, and it wouldn't be the last, because it wasn't as though Akko would follow them. "Got it."

"Alright." Diana tucked her hair behind her ear, a motion that Akko watched with a longing sigh because she wanted to be the one touching Diana's cheek, letting her fingers linger on her temple before moving her soft hair out of her face. But they still had a couple more weeks, not long but long all the same, and Akko had to wait. "Enjoy your festival, Akko."

"Thanks, Diana," Akko replied, shoving the longing in her heart down her throat and instead smiling automatically. "Sleep well."

"I'll try." Diana waited a moment, the flat of her hand lingering along the side of the Orb as she took in the red eyes dulled through the mist of her view, the messy hair that had clearly gone unbrushed before Akko sat down to speak to her. "Bye, Akko."

"Bye, Diana," Akko replied in a whisper, though the sentiment had gone unheard. Diana had already passed her hand across the face of her own Orb, and, in the space of a moment, her girlfriend had dissipated into nothing more than a cloud, into a fog of emptiness that Akko had grown accustomed to seeing—and feeling.

* * *

The lanterns were every shade of color as they stretched across the bustling streets of nighttime Tokyo. Pink, purple, orange, red, blue. They were all there, all glistening against a sky marred by the pollution of the city, adding a brilliant glow to the festivities that took place below in the summer festival that had become the culmination of Akko's summer break.

Vendors had popped up on the sides of every street, so close together that it was sometimes difficult to tell the wares of one from the other. Most were cheapened toys meant for children. Glowsticks and wands filled with bright lights that flickered as kids waved them to and fro. The intoxicating scent of sweets filled the air, floating around Akko as she walked along with her aunt.

Before, when she was a child, the festival had seen much more magical. The dancing, the merriment, the food, the toys, the flight of the lanterns. Now, it seemed almost childish, though Akko wouldn't say that she didn't still enjoy it. It's just that now she knew what real magic was. Real magic was beautiful, was enlightening, was dangerous and difficult. It was the spark in her fingers, coursing through her wand and making her expectations come to reality (or, in her case, something else entirely). Literal magic was all around her, but the magic of reality… well, that was all around her, too, and she would enjoy it nonetheless.

Akko paused at a vendor to examine the light-up wands. A child that had to have been her age when she saw the Shiny Chariot show was ogling at the colorful, flashing lengths of plastic, pointing out each color to her parents who watched with feigned interest. She chose, in the end, a wand that flickered purple and pink lights and walked off, gleeful with each light step as she waved the wand into the air.

"Atsuko," her aunt called, beckoning with a nod of her head to a crowd that was gathering at the center of the square. "It's almost time."

Akko's hand moved to her side, to her own wand—the real wand—that was holstered safely at her waist. It wasn't a common thing for her to walk around with her wand on her person, but tonight was special and she had something in mind. Something that she hoped would go right. She'd been practicing, but practicing a difficult spell on the neighbor's dog wasn't exactly the same as what she had planned.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She flicked open the screen as she blindly followed her aunt through the dozens of people all headed to the same location, smirking at the familiar name that flashed on her notifications.

_Hello, love. How is the festival?_

_ U'll c_, Akko typed back in a hurry, glancing up occasionally as her eyes continuously darted back to her screen. She was getting anxious. Nervous. What if she messed up? Sure, she'd gotten everything right on her practice goes. She'd even felt the stick in her mouth as she leapt into the air and grabbed it, felt the spittle flying around her as her gums flapped in the summer heat. But this was Diana, this was somebody she cared about, and she absolutely wanted everything to go perfectly.

_What's that supposed to mean? I don't understand text speak._

Akko couldn't suppress a giggle. Sure, Diana had asked her to type like an old person discovering technology for the first time and writing like they would for a graded paper, but Akko wasn't about to do that. Besides, she secretly got a kick out of the constant nagging and groaning that came from the other girl.

_What r u up to? _she typed back, coming to a stop at her aunt's side.

"Put that away," her aunt said as she rose onto her toes to try to see over the heads of taller people. "You don't want to miss the lanterns, do you?"

"Of course not," Akko replied, though she had no intentions of putting her phone away. Not just yet, anyway. Besides, she'd seen it before many times. The lanterns rising into the air, an array of colors soaring into the night sky to a background of brilliant fireworks and the oohs and ahh's of enthralled children and tourists. A simple beauty against the dark silhouette of skyscrapers and city buildings, of the flashing advertisements and endless reminder of day-to-day life.

It was an escape, if even a simple one.

But an escape that she wanted Diana to enjoy.

_Just in the study. Catching up on a bit of reading, _came Diana's reply to her text message.

Studying. Of course. Akko rolled her eyes, scanning the members of the crowd as they watched attentively. The release would happen any moment, and Akko didn't want a single bit of it to be missed.

_I want you to see something_, Akko typed back. No text speech. Just clarity.

And before Diana could respond, before she could ask what Akko wanted her to see, her hand found the holster of her wand. She flicked her wrist, letting the entire length of the steel extend in her hand, before bringing the tip to the sky and swirling it, once to the right, twice to the left, with a final twitch in the direction of her own face as she thought very hard about Diana.

_"Oculi illusio!" _she whispered, just loud enough for only the people closest to her to offer a sideways glance in confusion.

There was a pause, a lingering silence where the voices of the crowd seemed to flow into background noise as Akko waited, wondering if her spell worked, praying to the Nine that she had, for once, gotten something right.

_Akko_, came the quiet, confusion-laced voice of Diana. _Akko, what is this?_

"The festival," Akko replied out loud. "I wanted you to see."

_ Akko_.

There was awe there, childish wonder, and Akko knew that Diana was taking everything in. The lanterns were released from each hand holding them and began to ascend slowly into the sky, intertwining and swaying together in a flickering rainbow of color. There as a burst and crackle of fireworks as they exploded above one of the tallest skyscrapers of Tokyo, an onslaught of light and imagination and the magic that was not really magic at all but simply the art of creating joy.

Non-magic, made purely for happiness.

A moment of happiness that she hoped Diana enjoyed as she watched through her eyes, as the two shared the magic that was the night even though they were thousands of miles apart. There was quiet between them and Akko wondered if Diana could feel the steady drumming of her heart, could feel the electricity surging through her body as the spell held strong. Diana's magic had mingled with her own and empowered it, prolonged it, and where Akko had feared it would grow weak, it grew only stronger. She felt lightheaded beneath the pressure of power, beneath the static of their magic, and the night only seemed to become more enchanting with the sense of elation that she felt.

_Akko_, Diana repeated. _This is beautiful._

"It is," Akko agreed. For a moment she was with Diana, her hand warmed as their fingers intertwined, as their shoulders pressed together in the cool of the night while they watched the lights of the lanterns grow smaller and fainter as they drifted away. "I hope you like it."

_I love it, _Diana replied. And that's all Akko wanted to hear, all Akko wanted to know. That months of learning a difficult spell was worth it, if only for a moment, if only to give Diana a break from the monotony that was running the Cavendish household. That they could share a moment, alone together in a crowd of strangers, none the wiser of the two girls peering through the same eyes at the spectacle before them.

_And I love you, _Diana added.

"I love you," Akko replied.

And she hoped Diana didn't miss too much as she squeezed her eyes shut, took a deep breath, and let the swell of affection wash through her body.

* * *

Her phone was ringing.

Akko groaned as she rolled over on the hard mattress in her aunt's guest bedroom, hand blindly slapping around her pillow to find the phone. She felt like she hadn't gone to bed too long ago and, by the way darkness flooded her vision as she squinted her eyes open only to be blinded by her own screen, it was still late in the night.

_DIANA CAVENDISH_

Diana had never called her. In fact, Akko wasn't sure she even showed her girlfriend how to call. They had the Orb, after all, which was a much better solution. Akko grunted in confusion, her thumb swiping to accept the call as she plopped the screen down against the side of her head and muttered a sleepy, "Hello?"

"Akko."

Diana's voice was urgent, pointed. She cleared her throat.

"Akko, I would like to start by saying I very much appreciate the sentiment of your actions earlier."

"Good," Akko slurred, smiling through the sleep that edged at the corners of her eyes. "I was hoping you would."

"But it seems there's an issue, and a pressing one at that."

Akko sat up slowly, pressing her fist into her eyes as she rubbed them, yawning. "Okay. What's wrong?"

"Akko." Akko could feel the stare even though she wasn't there to see it. The flash of blue eyes, the flaring of nostrils, the straightened posture that said she had done something wrong and was about to get lectured for it. She couldn't understand what she had possibly done wrong. She had ended the spell and left the festival with her aunt, who had been completely unaware as to what had happened, and everything had gone on as normal. Diana had even texted her a bunch of romantic stuff that had Akko smiling until she passed out from exhaustion.

"Akko," Diana repeated, the length of her harsh breath clearly heard on the other end of the line. "I can't perform a single spell. I went to pour tea, earlier, and…"

"Use your hands," Akko grunted in reply, still unsure as to what the issue was. "That's what normal people do."

"You're not getting it, Akko," Diana snapped. "I also tried to ride my broom."

"Maybe it's on holiday?"

She didn't understand. It was unlike Diana to be unsuccessful in performing a single spell. She was the best witch in their class, possibly of their generation, and failure was so far out of the norm—

"Akko," Diana stated, calm in demeanor yet sharp in words as she continued. "I have no magic. I feel nothing. My magic—I think… your spell," she took a deep breath. "I think it's in you."


End file.
